Bacchus parade is on, despite weather threat

Sunday

Feb 10, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 10, 2013 at 7:15 PM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Actor G.W. Bailey shared the spotlight Sunday as celebrity king of the Bacchus parade - one the biggest in the run-up to Mardi Gras - with more than two dozen child cancer patients from across the country.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Actor G.W. Bailey shared the spotlight Sunday as celebrity king of the Bacchus parade — one the biggest in the run-up to Mardi Gras — with more than two dozen child cancer patients from across the country.

As Bailey suited up in his Bacchus tunic and cape, 28 teens and pre-teens being treated for various stages and types of cancer boarded a float and readied themselves for an hours-long ride through New Orleans, where they would toss Mardi Gras beads and trinkets to throngs of crowds well into the night.

Even with the threat of nasty weather — the National Weather Service said thunderstorms were likely from 3 to 6 p.m. — the parade was on. On Sunday afternoon, Bacchus spokesman Clark Brennan said, "We're rollin'."

Bailey — known as the co-star of "Major Crimes" on TNT and for roles in the "Police Academy" movies and the series "The Closer" — said New Orleans at Mardi Gras is a great place to escape, especially for teenagers needing a break from cancer treatments and doctor appointments.

"I've had the opportunity to travel a good deal of the world, and I am not just saying this, there is no question I am in my favorite city in the world," he said. "I mean, the color, the sounds, the smells, the energy, the people, the food and obviously the music, how can you not love it?"

Bailey grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, near the Louisiana border, and says he has fond memories of visiting "that magical place" where he would walk the French Quarter, catch beads at Mardi Gras and eat some of the best food he's ever tasted. He said this weekend he relished the opportunity to share those experiences with young cancer patients.

As executive director for the Sunshine Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the mission of bringing joy to children being treated for cancer, Bailey arranged for 28 patients known as "Sunshine kids" to join him in New Orleans for his Bacchus reign. The group arrived Tuesday to a packed schedule that included trips to the Aquarium of the Americas, Audubon Zoo and French Quarter.

The group also took a south Louisiana swamp tour and attended Saturday's Endymion parade.

Bailey said he's been involved with the Sunshine Foundation for 27 years and has been executive director for 12. He said the foundation regularly organizes trips for young cancer patients to major U.S. cities.

He said that for years, patients would ride in suburban parades or downtown New Orleans parades in the weeks before Mardi Gras. But Bailey's reign as Bacchus thrust the actor and kids into the city's biggest Carnival weekend and atop floats on one of its biggest parades.

The revelry continues Monday, the eve of Mardi Gras known locally as Lundi Gras. That's when actor Gary Sinise and New Orleans musicians Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and Harry Connick Jr. will ride in the Krewe of Orpheus parade. Joining them will be Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress Mariska Hargitay, the Imagination Movers family-friendly rock band, and Animal Planet's Tillman, the skateboarding bulldog.

Carnival season culminates Tuesday with the pageantry of the Rex and Zulu parades and as many as 1 million people reveling in the streets.